Lezyne Super GPS Review

This Lezyne Super GPS Review discovers an uncomfortable truth for Garmin. Other cycling computers can make highly competent devices for much lower prices. In some people’s eyes, striaghtforward cycling-focussed devices like the Super GPS are plausible contenders for the accolade of Best Cycling Computer.

Highly creditable alternatives to Garmin cycling computers continue to stack up. Fully plausible and much cheaper competition in the Sub £200/$300 space now exists.

The Lezyne Super GPS is one of these credible alternatives. In fact if you look more closely at the Super GPS you will be surprised that a product could be this good and that you’d probably never heard about it.

The Lezyne Super GPS has a generic level of functionality ie it has pretty much everything that I NEED and I ‘m probably as demanding as most of you. It might lack a few specialized functions that you WANT but don’t worry it will do the job.

The only major functional area that is missing is MAPPING but having mapping would put the Super GPS into a different product category.

Positives:

• Power data includes L:R balance and pedal smoothness and torque efficiency.
• Full smartphone text notifications including full SMS text message details.
• The unit is well made and feels well made; a very much superior ‘metal’ to the plastic of most other devices.
• GLONASS and GPS both provide positional data for increased accuracy.
• A highly credible 22 hours of stated run time.
• Links to ANT+ and Bluetooth Low Energy sensors.
• Automatically links to STRAVA (then to your data ecosystem via TAPIRIIK or SYNCMYTRACKS or fitnesssyncer.com)
• .FIT file format is offered by default.
• The quality construction and excellent, but proprietary mount, might favour the needs of MTB users.
• There is more than sufficient information provided about GPS quality/status.

Negatives: OK I’m struggling here. I’ll try! My only small criticism here is that there is not quite enough depth into the variety of ways that the metrics can be displayed, for example:

• The Super GPS ‘only shows 3s and 10s power. 30s power would be good as well or perhaps a custom rolling average.
• Whilst cadence and average cadence are shown, lap cadence is not.
• Power balance is only available as an instantaneous reading (personally that’s what I want but we’re all different)
• I had some difficulty pairing to a power meter even when entering the ANT+ ID. I sometimes also randomly pair up to other power meters if my pre-paired one is not the only one in range when I start recording (usually after a mid-ride group coffee)
• One display field MUST be speed, which is a bit bizarre as I never really need that.

Alerts are fairly basic only covering, IMO, things that do not require an alert eg ride time/distance alert – I’d want a cadence below XXrpm alert, for example.

Comments:

This is my BACKUP unit. That doesn’t mean I don’t normally use it, it means that I use it when testing other stuff as I KNOW it will simply record all my session data without running out of battery. Most of the others run out of battery on long rides.

It’s great that .FIT files are produced, I can then manually use them all over the place. Super handy.

For me, .FIT files offer an advantage over .TCX files in that they can support HRV/RR data – useful if you have software that can support the analysis of such data (otherwise irrelevant!). .TCX files are sent from STRAVA and do not have this format.

The display is easy to read but interesting in how it shows ride data. It has only one page and up to 4 bits of information can be shown. That doesn’t sound great BUT two of those bits of information are dynamic in that they can manually or automatically scroll through a whole host of bits of ride data that you include or exclude. Nice. Would be good to have the option of a couple of pages as well though. Also it is a bit strange that SPEED MUST be shown – strange if you have a power meter present. Indeed I would rarely display speed.

In some people’s eyes the Lezyne Super GPS will be a contender for the best cycling computer.

2017 sees an updated version which will have the word ENHANCED in its name. It’s essentially the same unit but with notable firmware improvements such as the ability to be configured via the Lezyne app.

I think their hardware package and general capability is ‘there’ already. The omissions, in terms of some of the data displays, I would imagine could be rectified by firmware updates if demand existed.

Alternatives: There are many alternatives in this space including the Polar M460 review (link to: the5krunner.com) , Cateye Stealth, Bryton, Wahoo, MIO Cyclo (mapping), O-synce Navi2coach and Garmin. The Cateye is the cheapest and the Lezyne comes in above the price of the Polar. Garmin is quite a bit more expensive.

I would say that, at this price point looking at the full cycling computer package, you would choose between the Lezyne Super GPS and the Polar M450. The Lezyne is better made and offers a wider palette of features and ANT+ but the Polar has a better online software package and more on-device metrics. Tricky choice; you’d be happy either way.

The latest version is the ENHANCED Super GPS (not this review) – this contains navigational related features including TBT navigation and STRAVA Live Segments. There are also several other minor improvements over the Super GPS such as the inclusion of GRADE as a metric and links showing connected devices as well as THEIR BATTERY STATUS (not tested)…cool!

Have a look at the other LEZYNE models (here) :Lezyne specifications Sheet: External Link to manufacturer (site 80mb).

PRICE, DISCOUNTS, AVAILABILITY

In the USA the Lezyne is available with a 10% discount from PowerMeterCity (checkout code: the5krunner10) and you help this blog in a small way by purchasing from there. It should be the equivalent of about $10 cheaper than the normal Amazon price.